1. Field of the Invention
The following description relates, in general, to an apparatus including a carbon nanotube, and a method of modification of a carbon nanotube and, more particularly, to a modification of carbon nanotubes to facilitate use in electrical applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The structural arrangement of elements, such as carbon, can facilitate the use of the element in varied applications. In nature the element carbon exists in several different configurations, e.g., polycrystalline, graphite, and diamond. In the last two decades, new forms of elemental carbon have been synthesized. One example is the fullerene structure having an arrangement of carbon atoms, i.e., sixty carbon atoms in the shape of soccer balls with diameters of less than ten nanometers.
Another example of a synthesized form of carbon are carbon nanotubes. Material structures such as carbon nanotubes have attracted significant attention in the scientific community due to their unique properties and potential applications. A carbon nanotube can be visualized as a single sheet of graphite atoms that have been rolled to form a cylinder. The electrical properties of the nanotube are dependent in part on a relationship of the ends of the sheet after the rolled sheet is formed.
Chirality is a property of molecular systems in which a mirror image of a system is not symmetrical with itself, e.g., a common hardware screw. In formation of a carbon nanotube, a chiral tube can result when ends of the sheet are displaced. A chiral vector can be used to represent an amount of carbon lattice displacements during a rolling-up of the sheet. The chiral vector represents a dimensional lattice that determines some properties of the carbon nanotube.
While, carbon has been attached to a silicon substrate with gold or other metals, and ohmic contacts have been used between a carbon nanotube and a host material, however, they have not proven effective in a merging of the quantum electronic states of the carbon nanotube with the host material.
To facilitate use of carbon nanotubes, a nanolaboratory and a method to modify nanotubes is desired.